Presented by: Rohan Mehta Aritra Chatterjee Shreya Radhika Sharma Shailesh Gupta Manoj Neha Munshi Dhaval

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Presented by: Rohan Mehta Aritra Chatterjee Shreya Radhika Sharma

Prologue
This is a classic high-stress job, with low level of control but high expectations from the organization Terry A. Beehr, Professor of Psychology at Central Michigan University

The case study deals with the high stress levels experienced by employees in these sectors, the reasons for the same, and the strategies adopted by HR professionals to address this problem.

Introduction

Stress in the workplace had emerged as a major issue for businesses In the IT and BPO sectors, particularly, the issue of job stress had assumed alarming proportions

According to SWNS- employees in the IT industry were more likely to suffer from stress than employees in other industries
97% of the people working in the IT industry find their life stressful at workplace in The UK

80% feel stressful even before entering at the workplace

Factors affecting the stress

Handling customer complaints

Heavy workload
Meeting deadlines and high targets Coping with the nature of work Lack of job satisfaction Long working hours

Pressure to perform

Outcome from Survey- IT

The survey found that the employees perceived the managers to be either unsupportive individuals or bullies Even managers experienced a high level of stress 95 % of them said that they found life at work stressful Employees felt that stress was all-pervasive

Survey by Optier found that IT professionals were more likely to suffer from stress than other professionals

Contd

It not only kept the majority of the respondents awake at night, also manifested itself in physical symptoms 25% reported variety of physical symptoms, including nausea, ulcers, headaches, migraines, weight gain, nightmares, even one near-death experience Same as IT, stress level at IteS outsourcing or BPO firms were not to dissimilar Long and odd working hours to serve overseas clients, stress level has reached new heights

Risk audit: reducing stress level

Increase in job productivity Reduced absenteeism and attrition Workload, schedules and interpersonal relationships should be managed by HR department Working hours should be flexible. This may also include shifts, and the rotation of employees Change in the organization culture to be managed and communicated well Employee role clarity, work expectations to be made understood through training programmes

Unconventional methods

Recreational activities: employees are taught dancing, music, trekking etc Clubs started by TCS included dancing, theatre, bibliophile, fitness ,community service ,etc Infosys ltd. weighed heavily on increasing the self awareness of employees and conducted workshops for the same Off-site picnics, games and inter-departmental competitions considered important as well

Contd

System of mentors and open communication promoted to improve interaction at workplace Access to In-house counseling centers Psychologists and nutritionists employed to provide healthy lifestyle habits

Underlying causes-high level job stress

Client expectations, resource planning Pressure from higher authorities Meet deadlines Unrealistic expectations Evaluate on quantitative factors Poorly defined goals, complex IT structure Experts with different view

Health Problems

Physical as well as mental Lack of exercise and unhealthy food habits Smoking , drinking Leads to depression and other mental problems

Money earned by youth has no value

Results

Fatigue, irritability, poor communication 25 to 30% attrition is due to stress Working day lost due to injury or ill-health Work related stress cost British economy up to 7 billion per annum Intel had to pay16000 for an employee Experts estimated industry could grow us$21-24 billion and employ 2 million people if they take proper health care of the employees

Threats of Data Theft

Growing use and widespread utility of Portable IT devices Software (slurp) which copies automatically search and copy a large amount of corporate data Lot of sensitive data is stored in the Electronic format Viruses

Most Prevalent Forms of Data Thefts

Phishing Identity Theft

Online hacking in to websites and Intranets

Thumb Sucking Pod slurping

Effects of Data Theft

Forrest Research 2005 warned data theft have a potential to curb 30% of BPO growth May lead to Great financial loss or lead to Collapse of organization Constant monitoring of employees Which will bread disloyalty and low down productivity and creativity More than 70% of data Theft done by employees and 95% lead to great financial loss

Problems Faced By HR

Difficult to ban the portable devices in work place May lead to erosion of loyalty in employees

Securing the ports will also make them go through the password and security checks will slow the work in the organization Not too much monitoring and at the same time have to make security measures

Management steps to curb employee indiscipline

Testing is made compulsory or not ? Set up counselling sessions and make them aware of the social disease. Better to advice them about consequences. Develop interpersonal relationship and team spirit. To encourage and offer support services to pursue higher education. To employ professional HR Professionals with knowledge of Human psychology in BPO units/call centers.

Implementation of Testing Procedure

Creating a non-discriminatory work environment Dealing with HIV testing, confidentiality and disclosure Providing equitable employee benefits Managing grievance procedure